Talk about overcoming obstacles!
The city finally removed an unsightly pile of barricades from underneath the Manhattan Bridge following an article in this paper last month — much to the delight of residents, who have been asking officials to clean up the mess for years.
“I’m so happy,” said Doreen Gallo, who is a member of Community Board 2’s transportation committee. “I’ve been talking about the clutter for years and now it’s not there.”
Gallo has been asking the Department of Transportation to clean up the triangular plaza bounded by Jay, Prospect, and Sands streets since 2007, arguing the equipment wasn’t just an eyesore — it was and creating spooky hidey-holes in the already dark space that were creeping residents out.
The agency removed the 30-odd barriers shortly after the article ran on Dec. 22. A spokeswoman refused to say whether it finally cleaned them up because of the negative press, saying only that transportation officials were already planning to move the barricades into long-term storage.
Either way, Gallo says she’s happy she can finally stop haranguing the department’s reps at Community Board 2 transportation committee meetings every month — and in fact just enjoyed her first barricade-free meeting on Jan. 19.
“It was the happiest I’ve ever been going to a transportation committee meeting,” she said.
But mission isn’t totally complete — she still wants the city to install lights in the gloomy space to make it safer and brighter.
